French oil major TotalEnergies has initiated a tender process to secure a supplier capable of providing 500,000 tons of green hydrogen annually for its European refineries, as reported by Reuters on September 14. The move in an integral part of the company’s decarbonization strategy, which involves replacing the grey hydrogen currently used in its European refineries with green hydrogen through renewable energy sources. In conjunction with the tender, TotalEnergies has also entered into a long-term agreement with the French industrial gas producer Air Liquide . Commencing in 2026, Air Liquide will be responsible for supplying TotalEnergies’ Gonfreville refining platform in Normandy, France, with 10,000 tons of green hydrogen and up to 5,000 tons of low-carbon blue hydrogen annually.

TotalEnergies manages six refineries in Europe and two biorefineries in France, all of which rely on hydrogen in their processes. By transitioning entirely to green hydrogen within these facilities, the company aims to achieve an annual reduction of 5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This initiative is in line with TotalEnergies’ broader objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions associated with its oil and gas operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 40% by 2030 compared to 2015 levels. Prior to this recent green hydrogen procurement agreement, TotalEnergies and Air Liquide had already established a partnership in November 2022 to produce partially renewable hydrogen using residual biogas from TotalEnergies’ Grandpuits biorefinery.

S****ources:

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/frances-totalenergies-launches-green-hydrogen-tender-call-2023-09-14/

https://totalenergies.com/media/news/press-releases/decarbonizing-refining-totalenergies-launches-call-tenders-supply-500000

https://totalenergies.com/media/news/press-releases/circular-economy-totalenergies-and-air-liquide-innovate